Pot Smoking After Work Does Not Affect Job Performance
It’s an old stereotypical notion - that those who recreationally smoke weed fail to meet manager expectations and don’t deliver on the job. But you already know this is not true. You can be perfectly functional and capable using weed in spare time and going to work. And what does the science says? Smoking weed after work hours does not negatively affect performance - that’s the conclusion of researchers with two different U.S. universities.
Consuming cannabis in your free time, or after work, does not negatively affect performance at work, says the first study in over 20 years to research cannabis usage in relation to workplace behaviors. Researchers drilled into this topic and their findings have been published in the journal Group & Organization Management. And perhaps this would finally repel once and for all the age-old boring-like-bug stereotypical nonsense that those who like dope can’t do or don’t do anything.
The long and beautiful title “Altered States or Much to Do About Nothing? A Study of When Cannabis is Used in Relation to the Impact It Has on Performance” rebuffs the idea that recreational weed smokers are impaired at work. The study was conducted by researchers with the San Diego State University in California and Auburn University in Alabama.
How Cannabis Impacts Job Performance?
Researchers specifically probed into the effects of cannabis on ‘job performance’ before, during and after work hours. For the purposes of the study, job performance was seen as what the immediate supervisor expected from the employee.
“Using data from 281 employees and their direct supervisors, our results indicate that cannabis use before and during work negatively relate to task performance, organization-aimed citizenship behaviors, and two forms of counterproductive work behaviors,” wrote the researchers in the paper abstract. But they add: “At the same, after-work cannabis use was not related (positively or negatively) to any form of performance as rated by the user’s direct supervisor.”
The study further notes that no empirical evidence existed that addresses cannabis use in relation to the modern workplace. Despite that, drug testing remains a widespread practice. Now, thankfully, there is some scientific proof that cannabis - when used in spare time - does not affect your performance. A very American thing to check!
The Simple Takeaway? Don’t Get High Before and During Work, Wait for After Hours
If you’re Seth Rogen, you actually might be needing weed to keep your creative work spirit going. But not all industries are like the one where Seth Rogen is, and not everyone is Seth Rogen actually. As the research remarks, most jobs, and especially corporate jobs or gigs in nice enterprises, do require from people a productive ‘organization-aimed citizenship behaviors.’ Weed sadly does not deliver these types of behaviors. When you smoke you suddenly became a savage ogre and saliva starts to drip from from your mouth.
The study officializes that cannabis consumption before or during work contributes to counterproductive work behavior, while smoking after work keeps you in the safe zone. So, yeah, the only hours when it’s okay to toke without jeopardizing the aforementioned behaviors in the eyes of the supervisor is when your work shift ends.
Cannabis Use May Actually Be Positive for Work
Another interesting thing that researchers acknowledge in this study is that, for some people, cannabis use in their free time, or after work, may have an overall positive effect. The study does not provide direct evidence to that end, but it suggests the potential positive outcomes for employees.
Dr. Jeremy Bernerth, a professor at SDSU’s Fowler College of Business, involved in the study, remarked that for some individuals who indulge with cannabis as they finish work - for them cannabis might be good as it distracts them from stressful things around the job. When cannabis is used for relaxation, it may help employees replenish energy lost during the day and as a result they may come back to the office the next day with more stamina and strength.
“Given the popularity of cannabis on a national level, it should be of little surprise that organizations spend billions of dollars each year addressing what many believe is a problem,” explained Bernerth. “We hope this research can provide organizations with the necessary information to structure their substance policies.”
Indeed, drug tests and their sometimes dramatic consequences remain the most visible remnant of the War on Drugs. But, hopefully, all of this research information does make a greater influence and it’s seriously considered within companies, schools, public institutions, and other organizations. While some legal states do have laws that protect medical and/or recreational cannabis users, millions of other people do not enjoy the same ‘privilege’ of being protected for something that they might do in their spare time. These findings do have implications for all who believe that the use of cannabis negatively affects work behavior. It is only fair that they stop seeing threat and danger from moderate weed use during hours when someone is free and without tasks.
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Stephen Andrews
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